Elder Americans are more likely to cheat on their partners

For the last three decades, the General Social Survey (GSS) in the US has collected Americans' views regarding sex outside marriage. Over this long period, three quarters of the respondents have consistently stated that extramarital sex is always wrong.

Yet, looking at how they respond to the question "have you ever had sex with someone other than your husband or wife while you were married", researchers have begun to piece together a different story.

In a brief published by the Institute for Family Studies, based on the most recent data collected by the GSS, Nicholas H. Wolfinger, a professor in the University of Utah, explains that there once was no generation gap when it came to extramarital sex. Older adults didn't cheat more than their younger counterparts.

But things began to change in 2004. Although the overall number of people who report having sex outside of marriage has held steady at approximately 16% over the past 30 years, Americans over the age of 55 started reporting rates of extramarital sex that were up to six percentage points higher than that of younger adults.

In 2016, the data indicates that 20% of Americans in their late fifties and sixties cheated, compared with 14% of Americans under the age of 55. This age gap cannot be explained by differences in sociodemographic status, ethnicity or education.

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наша социология продолжает повторять за Коном: возраст начала половой жызни снижаецо и пром и скуитет кругом